


so i'll try.

by rotwound



Series: unread entries of arthur morgan [2]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: It's kinda obvious, M/M, arthur is worried about john, at least he thinks so, but like secretly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27567550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rotwound/pseuds/rotwound
Summary: while the gang was holed up in colter, john sustained some injuries that kept him bedridden for a while. arthur dealt with that in his own ways.
Relationships: John Marston/Arthur Morgan
Series: unread entries of arthur morgan [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015023
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	so i'll try.

“ 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯! 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦?! “ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀

cold. winter out west never had come 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 in comparison to the frigid, biting cold that colter bestowed upon them — arthur was beginning to think that if it weren’t the pinkertons or the o’driscolls that took them out, at this point, it would be the grizzlies’ winter. frozen up there to rot when summer’s thaw came months later. mac, davey, sean, and little jenny — two of them were dead, and the others presumed to be. and now… would john be following in their path? it’d been a day now since arthur and javier had rescued john from the mountain face, and nigh on lifelessly marston laid himself out in one of the recovered cabins in colter. arthur hadn’t the courage to visit him yet, not since he was placed there and the reverend was taking watch over his health. 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥, arthur kept thinking to himself? 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘩𝘯? he would die believing arthur never truly forgave him for that year he’d left. and damn it, he still hadn’t — but he felt worse for that, now.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
arthur waits until his pocket watch strikes one in the morning and all life in colter has died down, folks buried in sleep and lamp-lights turned low as darkness blankets the lands — only then, he decides to visit john. under the security of all others fast asleep, he steps quietly into john’s cabin, takes a seat upon the chair in which abigail sat during the day, worrying her head over john… and christ, he doesn’t look good. even amidst the darkness arthur can make out bloodied bandages covering half of marston’s face, small streamlines of blood having traversed down john’s neck and dried there, red-brown in colour now. he can make out john’s familiar form laid haphazardly beneath thin blankets, can make out that ratty black hair he knew anywhere.

carefully, arthur reaches out to place a hand upon john’s own — and he’s cold, not so much as a corpse but enough that arthur’s heart sinks when he feels it. perhaps this was payback, for treating john like a liability ever since he returned to the gang. perhaps john would die and it would be arthur’s fault, because there was a time when he’d notice john’s disappearance as fast as abigail would. there was a time when arthur could have prevented john from leaving on his own altogether… and just the same, there were times where he could not. these were those times. in the deafening silence of the winter night, arthur pulls his journal from his satchel and uses the faint lamp-light to etch another entry into his journal.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀

“ 𝘫𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘪 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 — 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘪 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯; 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯. 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵. 𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘩𝘯 — 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘪𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 

𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢, 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳. 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘪𝘧 𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯… 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘴𝘰 𝘪’𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘫𝘰𝘩𝘯. 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘪 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 ( scribbled out ) 𝘪 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. 𝘪 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯-𝘵𝘰𝘱. 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦. 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. “

movement stirs at the corner of arthur’s eye, and instinctively he closes his journal as mary-beth comes to sit by him in the darkness. “ it’s good you came to see him, “ she whispers, and arthur gives a half-hearted nod when the woman pats his shoulder gently. if only she knew what it took for him to finally suck up his pride and be here.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
“ didn’t think no one was awake, “ arthur mumbles, idly scratching at his beard. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
“ hard to stay asleep in a cold like this. seems you felt the same, must be early. “⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
“ yeah… couldn’t sleep. “ 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸. “ anyways, i ought to be- “ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀  
“ no. “ mary-beth stops him, her hand upon his shoulder once more to keep him rooted to the chair. “ stay, arthur. 𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. “


End file.
